This balmy summer in Brighton was spent making a stylish mosaic floor for the wet room of a new building project on the South West tip of Ireland. Here is the story from workbench to building site with some Ireland adventures thrown in…

Above is week two in the studio with the mosaic making in full swing. The floor covered almost three metres of work bench and required hours of cutting ceramic and glass tiles into quarters.

Below are the initial design sketches - the idea was to take a traditional Celtic design and repeat it in a classic roman mosaic floor fashion.

In progress…paper template with repeat pattern design drawn to scale, mesh, nippers, glue and some Venetian silver Smalti glass for a little sparkle.

And then for the slicing and packaging followed by a long drive to Schull Harbour, West of Cork. So glad I remembered to pack some waterproofs for 15th August AND the knee pads…who said being an artist was glamorous? At least there was a super little horse box coffee shop just down the track where I could take a break from cement, tiles, noise and dust.

The installation with my trusted friends Mapei tile adhesive and epoxy grout. I used a soft silver grey colour grout to allow the tiles to do the work. Repeating patterns and a carefully considered colour palette are always a winner.

After three days the floor is set, grouted and polished. The only finished project in the house. I’m looking forward to seeing how the floor design will look against the tiled walls and fittings.

So a big thank you to my lovely client Tanya for introducing me to Ireland for despite the rain it has a friendly warmth and is breathtakingly beautiful…